Palwaukee Theater

650 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Prospect Heights, IL

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Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on May 10, 2009 at 12:48 pm

I remeber seeing something here. I think it was either Rambo or the Right Stuff, neither of which strike me as beeing art house offerings. Every time I drive by on Palatine Highway I look down at the building where the theatre was and try to remember exactly what movie I saw all those years back.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 10, 2009 at 11:48 am

Here is a June 1982 ad from the Daily Herald:
http://tinyurl.com/qrzqdz

Paul Fortini
Paul Fortini on September 24, 2007 at 9:10 pm

I believe that ads in the Tribune and Sun-Times circa 1985-1986 billed this as being “The Suburbs' Only Art Cinema” or something like that.

TSMChicago
TSMChicago on February 18, 2005 at 12:14 am

At the time it was a tiny little theater that you could easily miss as you drove by on Milwaukee Avenue. They had late shows and usually ran reissues or second run.

I do remember seeing the controversial “Caligula” at this theater and being surprised by the outrageous ticket price of $7.50. No other theater in the suburbs would have touched that movie with a ten foot pole.

billymac72
billymac72 on September 1, 2004 at 9:34 am

Yeah, it was defintely there in the 70s. I saw Star Wars at some point (most defintely a re-release), the PG version of Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and countless kids films (they ran matinees). Some may also remember exiting on to Milwaukee Ave from Palatine Expressway late at night & seeing a cavalcade of costumed patrons lined up to see the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” They used to have midnight screenings in the late 70s & early 80s.

ChrisB
ChrisB on August 8, 2004 at 2:55 pm

It was operating at least from the mid-70s; it was kind of a grind house (saw both “Mother, Jugs and Speed” and “Guyana, Cult of the Damned” there). They had revivals of “American Graffiti” for a couple summers, as well as “Girls on the Beach” (retitled “Summer of ‘64”). Most clearly I remember seeing “Car Wash” on a frigid night in February 1977 and hearing about the fatal L train crash on the way home.